The field of the present invention is animal collars, specifically, an improved, animal training collar that is marked for proper and correct orientation and operation.
Adjustable animal collar devices or “choke” collars are well known in the art. In particular, collars that use chains or other elongated material with a connector at each end, in which the material is passed through one connector to form a large loop, thus permitting variable collar tension, have been described previously. Examples of such collars are found in patents issued to Sockett (British Patent No. 838,093), Bongiovanni (U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,218), Gardner et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,598), Shields (U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,930), Doose (U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,743), and Hull et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,733).
These collars are typically used in training animals to follow the command of the trainer. Such training collars are usually placed about an animal's neck and attached to a leash. The tension of the collar about the animal's neck can then be quickly varied by pulling the leash or loosening the tension on the leash. In this way, the trainer can give learning cues to the animal by temporarily pulling the leash to increase the tension of the collar around the animal's neck to create a momentary, unpleasant choking sensation. Training collars are designed to permit increased tightening of the collar with increasing tension on the leash. Importantly, however, to be a safe and effective training tool, the tightness of the collar about the animal's neck should quickly decrease upon release of the tension from the leash. Failure of the collar to consistently and quickly release following release of leash tension is undesirable for numerous reasons, including ineffectiveness in training, inefficient collar operation, and most critically, care and safety of the animal.
Training collars are commonly composed of elongated chains or bands having a circular or enclosed connector at each end. The chain or band is passed through one of the connectors, the “cinch” connector, and a leash is attached to the other connector, the “leash” connector. The large loop formed by passing the chain or band through the cinch connector is placed around the animal's neck. In order for the collar to function properly, the collar must be oriented about the animal's neck such that the non-sliding portion of the chain or band that is directly attached to the cinch connector hangs essentially down from the cinch connector. If, on the other hand, the loop is oriented such that the cinch connector hangs essentially down from the non-sliding portion of the chain or band, then, upon release of leash tension, the cinch connector does not readily move toward the leash connector. Instead, the cinch connector tends to remain in position and does not move or otherwise allow ease of release of collar tension. This improper orientation results in the collar remaining locked in place while tightened about the animal's neck. The animal owner must then manually move the cinch connector to release tension each time the leash is pulled, or else risk injury to the animal.
The difference between proper and improper application and orientation of training collars, such as choke chains, is difficult to detect. When viewed from above by the trainer, the chain or collar looks very similar, if not identical, regardless of whether the collar is properly or improperly oriented. Conventional training collars do not allow for easy detection or determination that the collar is properly oriented around the animals neck. Shields (referenced above) teaches a collar composed of a polymeric material that tends to cause the collar to more readily revert back to its larger circumference following release of leash tension. Gardner et al. (referenced above) teaches a collar with a link that breaks upon a pre-determined, threshold collar tension. However, the prior art is devoid of references that teach a collar with physical features facilitating proper collar orientation, or which otherwise permit easy detection of improper orientation, thus reducing collar locking. Nor does the prior art teach a method for accomplishing proper collar orientation using a coded training collar.